A Twisted Tale

A Big Step

Mark's POV

Three months. It took me this long to finally get over the fact that Meera would never see me as anything more than her best friend. I was a fool to think that the distance would make her see things differently. She didn't even seem to bother about my long absence. I took my time battling the inner demon but I then realized that I've held on to the dream of making her mine for too long. Letting go of this dream has taken it's toll on me. While I was busy mulling over Meera, I heard Claire's voice on the intercom. She threw her arms around me and hugged me tightly as soon as I let her in. I was shocked to see that my shirt was getting soaked with tears. I pulled back and took a look at her face. "Hey, what happened princess? If it is a guy you don't like then I'll murder him for making you cry. If it's a guy whom you love, I'll break his nose and do the same to him after the nose heals. I'll do that to him for the rest of his existence." "What's if it's my brother? What if it's my best friend who is more than a sister to me? What am I supposed to do then?" She cried.

I wiped her tears and said "Sweetheart, you don't have to worry about me. I've let her go and I'm perfectly fine with Valerio's relationship with her. So stop crying." She shook her head vehemently and said "Is it really that easy to move on from someone whom you have loved for more than ten years? Can you really see her with someone else and not hurt even the tiniest bit?" She asked sniffling.

I closed my eyes tightly as pain flashed across my eyes. I didn't want Claire to see that I was still hurting and I knew that what I was about to say next would only crush her. "I'm not saying it would be easy. But they say that time heals all wounds. I'm willing to take my time and heal. It's not a short term goal. But in due time, I will be able to live with her being someone else's wife." I said giving her a small smile. "No! She is stupid to not see, to not feel what you're going through. I am going to bring her to you and lock her up with you for a day. You talk to her and show her how you feel. Maybe then she will stop being this blind to your feelings. She may even-" "Derek told me that Valerio is going to ask Meera to move in with him. He's going to take her out and put forth the proposal tonight. Now you tell me Claire, should I destroy the life that Valerio is planning to build with her? Should I be the one to shatter Piero's dream of seeing Valerio settle down with the girl he chose for his son? Should I be the one to let my selfishness ruin something good between two people when Meera hasn't shown any signs of being unhappy in the relationship? Should I be the one to bring distance between two best friends whose friendship has survived this long without any setbacks? You tell me how I'm supposed to make her mine when she has willingly given herself to Valerio." I said.

Anger and hopelessness flashed across her face before she gave me a pitiful look and said "This selflessness you claim of, will be your downfall one day. Trust me brother, there will come a time when you will regret not being selfish. Fools are the ones who say that love is selfless! When you love someone you have to fight for them to understand it. Not letting Meera in on your little secret just because you are scared of her rejecting you and awkwardness getting between the two of you is foolish! She has a right to know how you feel especially when she is on the receiving end of your mood swings! You talk about doing things the right way? You haven't done anything right in this case! The right thing to do is tell her and let her decide on what she wants to do about it. Withholding is only going to blow up in your face when she gets to know about it. She will be insanely hurt when she realizes that you have kept such a huge secret from her for so long. Now that would destroy your friendship if nothing else does that for you."

I gave her a determined look and said "If that happens, I will deal with the consequences of it. For now, I don't want any more complications. With me gone for so long, unwittingly I've made room for awkwardness between Meera and I. I want things to go back to normal. At least as normal as they could be, with Valerio in the picture." She gave me a disapproving look but didn't say anything else to fuel my already deteriorating mood. I had to tell her about me leaving the country for good. But given how the conversation has gone so far, I wisely kept my mouth shut. I couldn't bring myself to break my sister's heart some more by telling her about my decision. It would only lead to more melodrama. And I wasn't willing to take anymore of that for today. After Claire left, I asked Leah to make arrangements for my flight to Denmark a week from now. That would give me enough time to share the news with everyone at home. It would also give me time to calm everyone down and let the news settle in. I didn't make any slip ups with Leah despite her organizing the 'trip' because she would immediately call Meera. So I was excruciatingly careful to not give her even the slightest hint of what I was about to do.

I sighed exhaustedly as I fell back on the bed. I would be missing out on a lot by being this far away from home but I knew deep down that this would do me good. I wasn't exactly doing great being close to Meera. Some distance would only put things into perspective and also would help me focus on expanding the business like I intended to. She too would be happy in her life and I could occasionally pay them all a visit. With these last thoughts on my mind, I fell into fitful sleep.